Revisiting the Tianwen Yellow Pumice (TYP) Eruption of Changbaishan Volcano: Tephra Correlation, Eruption Timing and Its Climatostratigraphical Context

• Published in: Journal of geophysical research. Solid earth 2024-04, Vol.129 (4), p.n/a
• Main Authors: Chen, Xuan‐Yu, Xu, Yi‐Gang, Tarasov, Pavel E., Leipe, Christian, Kim, Ji‐Hoon, Yan, Shuang, Park, Myong‐Ho, Chun, Jong‐Hwa, Chen, Cong, He, Peng‐Li, Blockley, Simon P. E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age; Age determination; Calderas; Carbon 14; Chronology; Climate change; Constraints; Environmental changes; Eruptions; Fractions; Geological hazards; Hazard mitigation; Heinrich events; Marine sediment cores; Marine sediments; Mitigation; Modelling; Pumice; Radiocarbon dating; Radiometric dating; Sediment; Sediments; Tephra; Trace elements; Volcanic activity; Volcanic ash; Volcanic eruptions; Volcanism; Volcanoes
• ISSN: 2169-9313; 2169-9356
• DOI: 10.1029/2023JB028563

Changbaishan volcano (China/North Korea) is one of the most active and hazardous volcanic centers in Northeast Asia. Despite decades of intensive research, the eruption history of this stratovolcano remains poorly constrained. One of the major puzzles is the timing of the eruption that produced the Tianwen Yellow Pumice (TYP) deposit at the caldera rim. Here we identify a new cryptotephra layer in sediment core 13PT‐P4 from the East Sea. Grain‐specific major, minor, and trace element analyses of glass shards allow a clear correlation of this distal tephra to the proximal TYP deposit of Changbaishan. Age‐depth modeling using radiocarbon (14C) dates of sediment bulk organic fractions and other tephrochronological markers from the sediment sequence constraints the age of the cryptotephra and thus the TYP eruption to 29,948–29,625 cal yr BP (95.4% confidence interval). Our findings lead to a revision of the history of Changbaishan explosive activity, and show that the volcano has been particularly active during ca. 51–24 ka BP in the last 100 ka. Using high resolution palaeo‐proxy records, we find the TYP tephra almost coeval with regional to hemispheric‐scale climatic changes known as Heinrich Event 3 (H3). With its precise age determination and wide geographic dispersion, the tephra offers a key isochron for dating records of past climatic changes and addressing the phasing relationships in environmental response to H3 across East Asia. Plain Language Summary Improving the knowledge of past volcanism is critical for volcanic hazard mitigation. Changbaishan volcano is one of the most dangerous volcanic centers in Northeast Asia, but its eruption history is not clearly understood. A classic example is the eruption that produced the magnificent Tianwen Yellow Pumice (TYP) deposited at the crater rim. Previous studies suggested a range of very different ages for this major eruption. In this study we trace its volcanic ash into a marine sediment core from the East Sea. By radiocarbon age‐depth modeling we are able to say with a high level of certainty that the eruption occurred sometime between 29,948 and 29,625 cal yr BP. The new results demonstrate the dispersal potential of ash from the eruption and shed light on the history and frequency of Changbaishan explosive activity. In addition, the TYP eruption is found to coincide with hemispheric‐scale and regional environmental changes. As a consequence, the volcanic ash can be used as a key time mark for dating se